Diplohaplontic Life cycle in Algae

In this type of sexual reproduction, there are two types of plants on the basis of chromosome number and behaviour. One type of individual is the haploid gametophyte which produce gametes. These gametes fuse to produce the zygote. This diploid zygote divides mitotically and produces a diploid plant.This diploid plant (sporophyte) produces spores meiotically and these spores give rise to gametophyte again. This life cycle is called diplohaplontic.

 

In plants like Cladophora, Ulva, Ectocarpus etc both gametophyte and sporophyte morphologically similar and hence they exhibit what is called isomorphic diplohaplontic life cycle.

If the gametophyte and sporophyte are morphologically dissimilar, the life cycle is heteromorphic diplohaplontic type (example: Laminaria).